Sweet Summer Flowers...

Happy Tuesday,

I thought that after such a nice day yesterday weather wise and as an antidote to the Christmas cards over the weekend I would show a card today using the Sweet Summer stamp to die for that matches the Belgian collection Antwerp die by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.  Hopefully the bright yellow and soft blue will invoke sunny clear blue days to come this month!

I stared this card by stamping the sweet summer stamp in watering can archival ink.  I then coloured the flowers and foliage using my watercolour pencils shading the flowers with different shades of yellow then going over the tip to blend these using my water brush.  I coloured the leaves in 2 shades of green but didn't water cover these to give mire definition.  Next I painted around the flowers using a soft blue which I shaded by adding the colour to a scrap piece of card and picked top the colour with the water brush to give a softer feel.  Finally I ran all around the border with a darker blue.

Next  cut the stamp to with the Antwerp die to make the frame and inserted a primrose foundation card centre cut with the centre section of the same die. adding a sentiment using the smallest pierced flags die.  I hand cut the matts on the flag and attached this under the frame and shaped this over the front.

Finally I added a panel embossed with the real checker board em,bossing panel which I embossed whilst the card was in the double pierced backgrounds rectangle die so that I maintained the piercing around the edge.  A few layers of blue and primrose and a bow and finished.

A light summery card for, Hopefully, a light summery day!

Enjoy...

Pixies in Brussels...

Happy Monday,

I had a great day yesterday tidying the craft cave which is one of the ways I like to relax lol Hopefully todays blog post is back to normal I don't know what happened yesterday but I believe it looked really strange!

Today's card is one I started at the demo day at Sew Simple in Norwich last weekend  I loved the look of this so much I decided to finish it at home.

This card is perfect to show the versatility and different techniques you can use with the Cosmic Simmer Pixie Powders.  I stared by lightly spraying a sheet of watercolour dead with water then added Purple Violet and Midnight Blue pixie powders over this.  Next I sprayed the hole sheet to make the colours burst and run.  I then added a sheet of velum over the top and took a print off, this spreads the colours between the 2 sheets giving extra value!

Once dry I embossed the velum sheet using the daisy dots embossing folder and brought out the pattern using Cosmic Shimmer pearl luster gilding polish over the top.  I used a small part of this for the centre panel of the card.

Next I cut the layers in the Belgium collection background in black foundation card and layered this over the watercolour card.  I then used the Equisite Poppies die to cut the petals from the remains coloured card however I layers them as shown to make the flowers look like iris's rather than poppies.  For the bow I mopped up the residue water and pixie powder with a piece of white string ribbon and when dry made a matching bow.

Finally the flowers were arranged around the card and I added a few layers of cobalt blue and black to frame the work.

A little bright for me but I love the colours and shine on this one,.

Enjoy...

Sunday Relax...

Happy Sunday,



Well after 2 One Day Specials this week I hope you all dont mind if I take it easy today lol.  I thought I'd share some pictures of the Gift Voucher / Ticket wallet I made on my  4pm show yesterday.  Rather than talk you thorough not I thought I would take the easy way out and show you!

Therefore if you click HERE you will go straight to the show on catch up on which I made it!

Back to Normal tomorrow.

Enjoy...

Something Different Saturday...Festive in June...

Happy Saturday,

My One Day Special continues through today at 9am, 12pm, 4pm and last chance at 7pm.

Here's a few more shots from the demo card I have made for the shows!

Enjoy...

Wot more shows...

Happy Friday,

As today's title suggest I am launching more shows on Hochanda this evening at 8pm which will continue  tomorrow ( Saturday) at 9am, 12pm, 4pm and last chance at7pm.  These shows are a Flash Sale on the stunning Sue Wilson Festive Die collection and features some of my favourites from the last Festive Collection at amazing prices!  There will also be some brilliantly priced Embossing folders and another chance to get my 12 Days of Christmas Paper pack ( again at a flash sale price)  I feel like I should be looking today for  red Sale shirt to wear!

I thought today that although it's early for some ( although I have a friend who starts her Christmas Cards in January) I should really show one of the demos for the show and this white on white Christmas card will be my first demo this evening so tune in at 8pm if you want to see how this one was made!









All the dies to make this are available on the show as well as the embossing folder and the glitter jewels I used.


Enjoy...

Lilac Nasturtiums...

Happy Thursday,

More samples form my new stamp release today and another sample made for the Hochanda shows earlier in the week  however this didn't make it to the show.  For some reason this went missing over the weekend so I want able to show it (if you caught the shows you may remember me telling Leonie about this card!)

Today's card is made using the Nasturtium elements clear stamp set and is relatively simple to make.

I stared by drawing round the inside of die number 3 in the double pierced background rectangles deduced by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.  Next I took the largest stamp in the set and stamped this over one corner making sure that the edges of the leaves and flowers were stamped over the edge lines.  Next I rotated the piece of foundation card and  stamps the same image over the opposite corner.  I then stamped the sentiment, form the same set, in the centre.

Next I cut out the flowers and leaves that hung over the edge of the drawn line then slid the die in over the card making sure the sections that hung over slipped through to the front of the die ( this is so much easier to show than explain!)  I then cut the die which gave the pierced rectangle but dissent cut the overhang that you pop through to the other dies of the die.  I will try to demo this again as soon as I can or shoot a video on this.  I then coloured the image using my Alcohol markers using different shades and leaving some white areas to make the flowers look more realistic.  I ran a light grey around the edge to give a drop shadow and make the stamped image look like it is coming off the page.

For the background I wet one half of a piece of watercolour card leaving half completely dry.  I then added Purple Violet pixie powder over the wet section and allowed it to soak the colour in where it was wet.  Where the paper is dry the pixie powder doesn't stick or spears leaving an ombre effect where the colour finished and goes to white.  To make this more obvious I added the powder at the bottom edge which means that the colour weakens as it reached the border between wet and dry card.

Hopefully I will find this card somewhere in my stash or craft cave, if not I may have to try to recreate it!

Enjoy...

Flowers for June...

Happy Wednesday,

Wow what a brilliant set of shows I had such a laugh with Leonie and Charlie!  U thought Id show you another sample form the shows this time using the set that appears to be my favourite as I have made so many samples with this one.  Therefore what I thought I would do is show a couple of card each day this week!

This was my first demo on the One Day special so if you want to see how this one was made you can watch it HERE on Hochanda Catch up!

The second card is also using this set this time using the matching Sentiments et.  You may notice that the shape of these sentiments are familiar to followers of Sue Wilson and her Blog family.  I designed these to match the Belgian collection set of dies as they are drawn to match the centre shape that goes across all of the Belgian collection.













I used the Elements stamp set for the larger flowers on the strip stamped in perfect medium and then coloured by dusting mica powder across the designed.  The background which I demoed on the Hochanda shows, is made using the letterpress technique, rambling roses embossing folder and mica powder.

Enjoy...